4/23/18

4/16/18 IMPORTANT UPDATE

The Constitutional Revision Commission, in almost 9 hours of session, went through all 12 pending Proposals from the Style and Drafting Committee, approving 8, defeating 3 and having one withdrawn. A chart of the proposals and actions is attached (each proposal # is linked to the respective CRC page for that proposal). Afterward, Commission Chair Carlos Beruff issued a press release essentially closing the Commission's work (found here). The eight proposals are being sent to the Style and Drafting Committee for placement into a final report that goes to the Secretary of State for positioning on the November 6th general election ballot (e.g., since there are already 5 amendments scheduled, P6001 will likely be Amendment 6, P6002 as Amendment 7, and so on in the order listed in the attachment).

Of note, Commissioners on a 27-10 vote approved Proposal P6003 for K-12 education that includes 8-year term limits for school board members starting with the 2018 election, mandatory civics instruction in public schools and authority for the Legislature to provide for schools or educational programs outside of the school district controlled/operated schools (commonly cited in debate to include a separate state authorizer for charter schools, but not limited to that action). The Commission also voted down Proposal P6008 that would have allowed for innovative school districts to be designated by the legislature and have the same statutory flexibility as charter schools [s.2003.33(16), F.S.]. The vote was 12-24. The proposal was modeled after a four-school district pilot program (Volusia, Hillsborough, Orange and Palm Beach) approved by the Legislature during 1999-2010.

As reported earlier today the Commission also approved Proposal P6002 that provides for the death benefit of a free college education for survivors of fallen first responders and military service members, requires certain university fees, not including tuition, to be approved by a super-majority trustees' board vote, and places state colleges in the constitution, each to be governed by a local board of trustees and reporting to the state board of education (current practice).

The other defeated proposals were P6009 that would have allowed open primary elections and P6010 that would have required employers to verify U.S. residency status and prohibit hiring unauthorized alien residents.

4/16/18 Part 2

The Constitutional Revision Commission approved on a 27-10 vote Proposal 6003 that combines three K-12 issues--8-year term limits on school board members starting in 2018; mandatory teaching of civic literacy and, importantly, allows the state to create schools that are not controlled, operated or supervised by local school boards. The full amendment and history is here.

The Commission also approved P6002 this morning on a 30-7 vote. The proposal provides for college scholarships as a death benefit for survivors of first responder and military members. The amendment also sets a cap on base tuition fees for universities. The full amendment and history can be viewed here.

These proposals, along with others that gain 22 or more votes, go directly to the Secretary of State for placement on the November 6th ballot after 5 measures that are already slated for ballot action.

The CRC continues to meet this afternoon and is slated to meet if and as needed over the next 9 weekdays. The full Commission website is www.flcrc.gov and all deliberations are webcast on www.thefloridachannel.org.

4/16/18 Part 1

The 37-member Constitutional Revision Commission swings back into full gear tomorrow morning at 9am to begin as much as two weeks (10 days) of review, amendment, debate and vote on the recommended 12 groupings of proposals by the Style and Drafting Committee two weeks ago. While the next ten weekdays have been set aside from 9am to 6pm, the Commission in previous schedules has completed its work in a shorter period of time.

Attached are the 12 groupings. The proposal number provides a link to the www.flcrc.gov website and specific proposal back up. Several have amendments filed during the past week. The first six proposals are groupings of 2-4 proposals under a common header. The last six are individual proposals that have been approved for further consideration, but with less than a 60% vote so any could fall out during this round of meetings. The two related education proposals, P6003 on public schools and P6002 that includes forming a separate board of governors for state colleges, each have a clarifying amendment on file, but no substantive changes from two weeks ago.

During this series of meetings, 22 votes or 60% are required to advance Style and Drafting proposals, adopt any amendments or re-groupings, and a final vote (at least 22) on each measure. Proposals getting the 60% vote will then be filed with the Secretary of State. Deadline for that is May 10th.

Meanwhile, to everyone's delight, the final chart of bills we tracked this session that passed (enrolled) is attached. All were approved by Governor Rick Scott and have been assigned chapter numbers for reference. Gov. Scott did not veto any bills directly affecting prek-12.

4/5/18

Style and Drafting Committee members completed their work today on the ordering and wording of 12 constitutional proposals that will now go back to the full Constitutional Revision Commission, likely week after next. In the meeting packet, here, are the twelve, starting on page 17, which include the following and are listed in the proposed order of placement on the ballot:

PCP6002 – Military and First Responder Survivor Benefits; Higher Education – formerly Group BP 49 First Responders and Military Survivor BenefitsP 44 Voting Thresholds for University FeesP 83 State College System

Committee Chair Brecht Heuchan emphasized throughout the meetings this week that the groupings and changes were focused on format and format, not making any substantive changes from prior Commission meetings.

When the proposals go back to the Commission, the 37-member body will be able to make any changes, additions or deletions to the work done this week. The results of that meeting or series of meetings then goes for further legal review and will come back for a final vote requiring 22 members (60%) giving approval to each proposal. If any gets less than 22 votes, it will be not go on the November ballot. Final deadline for approval is May 10th.

FYI: late today Leon Circuit Court Judge John Cooper dismissed one of the lawsuits filed by a number of school districts last year against HB7069 on grounds the bill overstepped constitutional authority. Judge Cooper ruled the bill (law) is constitutional. Plaintiffs can appeal the decision to the First DCA in Tallahassee.

4/4/18

The grouping and ordering of proposed constitutional amendments by the Constitutional Revision Commission's Style and Drafting Committee came into better focus today as the committee approved a working draft list of six groupings followed by six stand-alone proposals. The tentative list is attached.

Group A would be K-12 education and would include proposals #43 (eight year term limits for school board members starting in 2018), #71 (creates authority for the state to establish schools independent of those established by district school boards--commonly thought of as a state authorizer for charter schools, but the measure can go further than charter schools), and #10 (requires the legislature to make provision for teaching of civic literacy with focus on America's "constitutional republic"). As a working supposition, Group A would appear third on the ballot behind Groups C and B, but ahead of groups D, F, E and the six stand-alone proposals.

One of the stand-alone's, #93, would authorize high performing school districts to have the same statutory flexibility provided by law currently for charter schools in s.1002.33(16), F.S.

The Committee's packet today also included the current wording of all 24 proposals that are still in consideration. The 21.6mb file can be found here. The proposals, including those amended yesterday in Style and Drafting yesterday, begin on page 37 of the 92-page packet and appear in numeric order.

The Committee convenes tomorrow at 10am to vote on final wording, grouping and ordering of the proposals. The 10am meeting will be webcast at www.thefloridachannel.org. They've also set aside Friday if work is not concluded tomorrow. Results of the committee will go to the full Commission, the date for which has not been set. All CRC work must be completed by May 10th.